When I was 15 years old, Mr. Tom Sneed took a chance on me and let me have a job at his construction company for the summer. I learned a lot about life and even more about hard work. I mainly pushed a wheelbarrow around and fetched various items and materials for the experienced laborers. I even remember the exact project that I spent most of my time on because it’s the building that Sweet Peppers Deli sits in today.

Toward the end of the summer, Mr. Lex Jackson, the owner of the building and shopping center, would stop by frequently to check on progress. Knowing who he was, I took the opportunity to make my way over and introduce myself. I was aware that Reed’s Clothing store, also under his ownership, was to be moving from the mall to the spot on the corner by Peppers and I had always wanted to work there.

Needless to say, the conversation went well because I spent the next two years working at Reed’s after school and on the weekends. I also learned a lot in the clothing business and attribute my knowledge of fine menswear and customer service to those formative years. From there I went on to many other jobs from cooking to landscaping and made a career out of both. The common denominator in all of these jobs was someone willing to take a chance on me. Especially in my teenage years.

It’s really easy to look at the youth of today and hang our heads, but don’t hang them too low or you might miss something pretty amazing.
Of course they don’t enjoy the same pastimes as the generations that came before them, but how could they? Music, entertainment and overall general interests are generationally relative. Sometimes just because we don’t understand something, it doesn’t mean that it’s bad.

I can only imagine how aloof and lazy I seemed when I was a teen. I try to imagine if I had access to smart phones and the gaming consoles of today. It actually wouldn’t have been that different. Just like my children’s generation, and the millennials and my generation, and every single one before… kids will be kids and distractions will be distractions. Our way of life is a product of the time in which we live.

The more things change the more they stay the same, except for one thing, the desire to understand. Since when did it become OK to dismiss an entire generation of kids and doom their fate before it has even come to fruition? The generation I’m referring to is “Gen Z.” I know firsthand that these kids are and will be amazing, we just have to give them a chance.

I like to read the other columns in this paper because I find them interesting. It also helps me avoid overlap and redundancy by keeping my prose different from that of the other writers. But last week one in particular left me a little disheartened, especially since I am a parent of “Gen Z” kids.

It’s my opinion that when writing a column, punching down on others, especially kids, is devoid of thought and creativity. I personally feel that we have a responsibility as writers not to complain but to compel. Our energy can be so much more well spent finding solutions rather than problems. Just ask Felder. He’ll see you through to the other side with no stone left unturned and you’ll finish reading with a smile on your face. But journalistic schoolyard bullying from the top of the monkey bars lacks integrity.

Make no mistake, I believe firmly in the freedom of speech. I’m not offended easily and I too have danced in the shadows of Hollywood. But I don’t define myself relative to that, nor does it make me an expert at all things life. If anything, I take my experiences and build from them.I also like to build up others and learn as much as I can about anything and everything that presents itself to me. Especially before I make assumptions.

Words are in fact very powerful and I’m honored to share mine with all of you. After all, even well into adulthood, someone still took a chance on this once aloof teenager, and gave him the opportunity to fulfill a dream writing for a newspaper.

My three children and their friends are pretty cool people. They can cook, clean and hold down a job. They are funny, innovative and smart. I’m in awe of their talent with technology and the world it has opened up to them. My two sons love Frank Sinatra and Kendrick Lamar. Our daughter can execute any recipe she derives from social media. They do and say a lot of things I don’t understand but that makes it all the more interesting. I watch with loving adoration at the places they will go and what they will offer to this world. All they need in return is to be given a chance.

Clay Bowen is a Columbus native who cooked professionally as a chef in fine dining for 12 years and appeared on the third season of Top Chef. He is also a licensed landscape horticulturist. Bowen writes in his free time and is working on a book about his experiences and travel. Email him at [email protected].